Pascal Vasselon

By
May 10 2006

Pascal Vasselon

Pascal Vasselon joined Panasonic Toyota Racing in 2005, and has quickly proved himself to be a valuable member of the engineering team. Like so many in the sport, he began his career in aerospace, at the prestigious L'Ecole Nationale Superieure de l'Aeronautique et de l'Espace. In 1985, he joined the Renault F1 team to work in suspension development. When Renault closed the team he spent some time in production cars. His work had put him in contact with Michelin, and he joined the tyre company in 1988 as head of the vehicle dynamic group. In 1991, he joined the competition department, initially in advance research and later as head of track activities, predominantly in sportscar racing, where he was involved with Toyota's Le Mans project. He became head of the new F1 programme in 2000. A transfer back to the road car division in 2004 didn't appeal as his heart lay in racing, so he joined Toyota, Motorsport initially as Head of Chassis R&D. In 2006, Pascal stepped up to become General Manager Car Design and Development, before assuming in May the position of Senior General Manager Chassis, a role which encompasses the daily management and co-ordination of aerodynamics, chassis design, chassis R+D, race/test engineering and team management.

Career at a glance

1982-85

Sup'Aero

1985-88

Renault Sport and Renault Vehicle model making and suspension development